Picture: Mark Pearn on the attack for East Grinstead in their final Pool A match against Partille of Sweden.
East Grinstead won a place in the promotion pool in a closely contested match against Sweden's Partille in Vienna this morning. They are joined by the Scots from Menzieshill and the Pool B contenders from Vienna and Kolos-Sekvoya of The Ukraine. Menzieshill and Vienna take three points forward into the promotion pool, so East Grinstead have to win their last two matches to have a hope of promotion to the full Championship tournament next year.
Partille saved some of their best hockey of the tournament for this morning's match against East Grinstead, with only a one goal margin separating the sides as they went into half time. EG's two goals came from Mark Pearn and Dave De Prez.
The match remained closely contested throughout the second half. Partille equalised six minutes into the half but less than a minute later Scott Ashdown restored the lead from a penalty corner. Mark Pearn managed to widen the gap further from another corner, but two goals in three minutes saw the Swedes level pegging on 4-4.
What must be recorded as a terrible tactical blunder, just at the time Partille were notching up the goals, they opted to go for broke and took their keeper off. This proved a gift for 'Grinstead who managed to find the net twice in the last two minutes, to win the match 6-4. EG's scorers were Scott Ashdown and Niall Stott.
The final table in Pool A is as follows: 1. Menzieshill 7pts (+3), 2. East Grinstead 6 pts (+5), 3. Lille 3 pts (-3), 4. Partille 1 pt (-5).
Arguably the most entertaining match of the tournament so far was played out in Pool B between the hosts and Racing Club de Bruxelles, helped on considerably by partisan crowds cheering on both sides. The resulting 3-2 win by Vienna gives then top spot in the pool.
The final Pool B table is as follows: 1. Akademischer Wien (Vienna) 9 pts (+9), 2. Kolos-Sekvoya Vinnitsa 6 pts (+3), Racing Club de Bruxelles 3 pts (-1), 4. Lousada 0 pts (-9).
East Grinstead play their first promotion pool match against Kolos-Sekvoya this evening, needing a win to challenge for a promotion place. Tomorrow morning they will play their final match against Vienna, again a win being vital. Vienna start the promotion pool with three points carried over and the benefit of a vocal home crowd to support them. The Scots of Menzieshill play Vienna this afternoon and are in a position to help both themselves and East Grinstead with win.
